Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin Shines in Game 3 Win Over Capitals: Saves, Stats, and Impact

WASHINGTON – At first glance, and even on replay, it sure seemed like it Igor Shesterkin just hit John Carlsonand knuckle poke in the first period.

The New York Rangers The star goalkeeper certainly thought so, calling it a “very strange sight”.

“It goes up and down. Sometimes that happens,” Shesterkin said, still puzzled after a Won 3-1 in which he recovered to be a regular backbone for the Rangers to help them take a 3-0 series lead Washington Capitals Friday night.

But, alas, Mika Zibanejad he raised a hand after the game to voluntarily make Carlson’s shot look so fun because he clipped his stick.

Maybe it did. Or maybe Zibanejad was a great teammate.

JOHN CARLSON WITH THE START OF A DREAM FOR THE CAPS AT HOME 🦅 pic.twitter.com/e4vxTyrZJB

– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) 26/04/2024

Regardless, it doesn’t – and didn’t – matter. No one on the Rangers bench had any doubts that Shesterkin would return, and as he did during the portion of his season after the All-Star game, he made sure of it in a 28 save effort.

Shesterkin answered every Caps push, especially in the third period when the Rangers went into blocking mode and were outscored 13-5, including 11-2 at one point.

The Rangers marched to the penalty box three times in the first period and six times in the game, but the Rangers were a good 6-for-6 on the PK with eight saves from Shesterkin and Barclay GoodrowThe first game was won by a short-handed goal.

“Shesty was amazing again,” he said Vincent Trocheckwho continued his impressive streak by assisting on Goodrow’s goal and scoring on the power play.

Against 38 unblocked shot attempts, Shesterkin saved a higher than expected 2.59 goals. It’s the second-best performance by any goaltender in the playoffs so far Jeremy Swaymanand 3.49 in Boston’s Game 1 win over the Maple leaves.

On the penalty kill, as good as the Rangers were at pressing and scoring short-handed, Shesterkin got the better of them. Washington had 13 shutout shots on the power play and Shesterkin had a higher-than-expected 1.71 saves.

Shesterkin has 2.88 saves over expectations in three playoff games after a regular season in which he had 18.4 saves overall, which ranked 10th in the league.

After one of the worst months by any goalie in the league, allowing an above-expected 8.82 goals with an .863 save percentage in January, Shesterkin bounced back after the All-Star game with a .929 save percentage and 17.1 goals saved above expectations in 23 games . There’s been a stretch since early February where the Rangers started allowing more rushing opportunities against him and his five-for-five numbers dipped, but Shesterkin was always different .

Remember, even though the Rangers were ahead in the series 2-0 against him New Jersey last spring, Shesterkin excelled in seven games with a higher-than-expected 9.79 goals-against-plus 22.6 in 20 playoff games from 2021-22.

He will shine in the playoffs – plain and simple – even if he hasn’t been as successful on the road.

Shesterkin entered Friday’s game 4-8-1 all-time in 14 road appearances with a 2.88 goals-against average and .914 save percentage. In 2022, he was walked in his first two road playoff games against the Penguins.

But he didn’t give Washington a shot in Game 3.

In the first period, he read the Alex Ovechkin one-timer perfectly on the power play and made a steal. He did the same to Tom Wilson at his door in the third.

But nothing compares to his post-to-post split and slide to his right on steals Max Pacioretty with his right pad.

“I was lucky,” Shesterkin said. “I saw an empty right post and go to the right.”

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette gave Shesterkin a tap around the game, but he couldn’t get it out of his mind that Shesterkin wasn’t particularly good at five-on-five, that there wasn’t much against Shesterkin.

“There weren’t many chances, but there were a couple of them big opportunities,” Laviolette said. “The ones that cross the nose and they happen really quick — one was on the power play I think by Tom Wilson in the third, in the second period, there was a background play, it had to be very sharp and you could tell it was on purpose.

“He saw everything that was happening and went over there to make the play. It wasn’t a size, but there were a couple of big ones.”

As Trocheck said, “We need him to be the backbone of this team, and he’s been doing it for years now.”

Shesterkin said it wasn’t “a good start for me.” “

He wasn’t happy with Carlson’s goal and wasn’t going to rest on Zibanejad’s claim that the puck bounced off his stick.

“But a couple of other confidence boosters, so I’m just finding my game,” he said. “I forgot about that (Carlson’s goal) and focused on the next shot. We ‘ played really well, but we have to win one more game and focus on the next one.”

Teams leading 3-0 in a best-of-seven playoff series have won 98.1 percent of the time (202-4). The Rangers have a 5-0 all-time series record and a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series..

The Caps are in trouble, especially with Shesterkin showing no signs of cracking.

“We know exactly what we have to do out there, how they play, looks, but we still can’t get the puck in,” said Ovechkin, whose no points and four pictures in the series.

— Shayna Goldman contributed to this story. All data courtesy of Evolving Hockey.

(Top photo: Tom Brenner/Associated Press)